University of virginia

Rave drug molly is being blamed for the death of a gifted University of Virginia student who suffered an overdose at a Washington, D.C., club last week. Shelley Goldsmith, 19, a sophomore on scholarship at the prestigious school, took a lethal dose of the designer drug before collapsing at a rave at the club Echostage after midnight on Aug. 31, police sources told The Washington Post. She was pronounced dead later at a local hospital. The promising young student's shocking death came on the same day two others died from overdosing on molly at the Electric Zoo music festival on Randall's Island in New York. Investigators in Boston have said they believe a bad batch of the drug, often described as a "pure" form of ecstasy, was being sold throughout the Northeast, leading to more than a dozen late-summer overdoses at clubs and music festivals in Boston, New York and D.C. Three people OD'd on Molly at the Boston House of Blues on Aug. 28, … [Read more...] about Brilliant University of Virginia student dies from ‘molly’ overdose at D.C. club

In late February of 2010, Mark Burns, then a lacrosse player for the University of North Carolina, visited friends at the University of Virginia. During a party, he heard a girl’s voice yell, “Help me, help me.” Burns opened a door and saw George Huguely V, then a Virginia lacrosse player, lying on a bed with his arm around the neck of Yeardley Love, a women’s lacrosse player who was on top of Huguely. Love, who had recently broken up with Huguely after a rocky two-year relationship, then rushed out of the room. “She just said ‘Thank you so much,’ ” Burns said. Love broke down in tears and said she could not breathe. Burns testified on Day 2 of Huguely’s murder trial Thursday in Charlottesville, Va., as the defendant sat emotionless at a table with his lawyers. Prosecutor Dave Chapman linked the scene of apparent choking to Love’s death two months later on a night when Huguely allegedly kicked down the bedroom door … [Read more...] about University of Virginia lacrosse victim Yeardley Love cried out for help in confrontation two months before her death

The University of Virginia is bracing for “emotional distress” as jury selection for the trial of former men’s lacrosse player George Huguely is planned to start Monday in Charlottesville, Va., according to an email sent to students by president Terry Sullivan. Huguely faces first-degree murder charges for the May 3, 2010 death of his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love, who played for the women’s lacrosse team. In the hours after Love’s death, Huguely, then a senior, admitted to Charlottesville police that he had been involved in an altercation with Love, according to search-warrant affidavits and had “shook Love and her head repeatedly hit the wall.” “We will leave the judgment in this case to the justice system, and direct our energy toward creating a truly caring community,” Sullivan said. “Doing this will be the best tribute to Yeardley’s life and her memory.” Sullivan’s message encouraged undergraduates, … [Read more...] about Emotions rise as Yeardley Love murder trial gets set to begin at University of Virginia

BALTIMORE - Two nuns, both wearing white sweaters, navy blue skirts and black habits, approached the altar at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen at 8 a.m. Saturday and observed a woman at work fussing with pink and white flowers. When the woman felt the display was ready for Yeardley Love's funeral Mass, she looked to the sisters. "Are we ready?" the woman asked. The nuns nodded in approval. Within minutes, mourners began to arrive as a musician gently strummed the strings of his harp. Love, 22, was murdered in her bedroom early Monday morning after a violent interaction with her one-time boyfriend, George Huguely. Both were seniors and lacrosse players at the University of Virginia. While Huguely, who was charged with her murder, sat in a Virginia jail, Yeardley's body arrived at the cathedral in a wooden casket, carried by Huguely's teammates. Love's mother, Sharon Donnelly, and older sister, Lexie, both wore sunglasses and held onto each other while entering up the center … [Read more...] about Slain University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love laid to rest

China Crosby grew up playing basketball on the Mullally Park courts in the shadows of the old Yankee Stadium. Now, the Manhattan Center senior is set to take her game to the University of Virginia. Crosby, a senior guard who played with the Bronx-based Gauchos this past summer, announced a verbal commitment to the Cavaliers last week after visiting the Charlottesville campus with Lady Rams coach Jaywanna Bradley. "I loved everything about it," Crosby said after her visit. "The campus is wonderful, the facilities are fantastic and I really liked the players." With Crosby on board, one national recruiting service, allstargirlsreport.net, ranked Virginia's 2009 class as fourth-best in the country. Crosby, ranked by ESPN as the No. 2 point guard in the country, joins four other freshmen who are ranked among the top 120 in their class, including 6-3 post player Erinn Thompson (No. 21). Lyndra Littles and Monica Wright, the Cavaliers' top two scorers last season, will both be … [Read more...] about Manhattan Center’s China Crosby commits to University of Virginia

On Monday, the Charlottesville Police announced what was already obvious: No evidence exists to sustain Rolling Stone's claims that a horrific gang rape occurred at a University of Virginia fraternity party. The implosion of the Virginia case should be a moment that gives us all pause — especially those who, jumping on a breathless bandwagon powered by myth, are pressing to effectively shift the burden of proof in campus sex assault cases and usher in a dangerous new regime of "affirmative consent." This is a warning to Gov. Cuomo, who has already implemented such reforms in New York's public universities and is now aiming to take them to all other institutions of higher learning around the state. By any reasonable definition of the term, the UVA claim was false. Quite apart from uncovering no evidence of any attack, the police investigation exposed three falsehoods by the pseudonymous accuser, Jackie. A time-stamped photo showed there was no fraternity party on the … [Read more...] about Rebalance the campus sex assault scales: After the University of Virginia rape hoax, we must put the brakes on the crazed crusade against campus sexual assault

A University of Virginia student's bloody arrest has sparked a massive protest and led Gov. Terry McAuliffe to call for an investigation. A video showing the bloody arrest of a black UVA undergraduate Martese Johnson sparked hundreds of students to protest against police brutality Wednesday night. Johnson, 20, joined the demonstration, sporting 10 fresh stitches in his head from the violent takedown early that morning outside a Charlottesville pub. Footage from the arrest, showing a cop pinning the Honor Committee student against the street and blood covering his face, outraged classmates and spurred McAuliffe to call for an independent probe of the arresting agency. UVA was quick to challenge authorities for actions taken during Johnson's arrest. He was pinched for public intoxication and obstruction of justice about 1 a.m. Wednesday. "His head was slammed into the hard pavement with excessive force," school officials said in a statement. … [Read more...] about University of Virginia student’s bloody arrest sparks massive protest, governor’s call for investigation

The explosive University of Virginia frat house rape story disastrously unraveled on the small screen, as it did in real life. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” on Wednesday took on the real-life bombshell tale of a college student named “Jackie,” who told Rolling Stone she was gang raped by seven Phi Kappa Psi members in the frat house in September 2012. Her horrific story fell apart after it was detailed in the pop culture magazine’s November 2014 issue — just like it did on the NBC crime drama. A fictional young woman named Heather Manning spills her heart to Detective Olivia Benson, sobbing as she describes how four frat boys at New York’s Ivy League “Hudson University” pounced on her like a “pack” before raping and sodomizing her. She was sought out after a TV show called “America’s Worst Crimes” ran her heartbreaking interview under the name … [Read more...] about ‘Law & Order: SVU’ airs take on University of Virginia frat house rape case

The University of Virginia fraternity highlighted in a now-debunked Rolling Stone article on campus rape said Monday it planned to sue the magazine for "reckless" reporting. The UVA chapter of Phi Kappa Psi made its announcement a day after an independent report found that Rolling Stone failed to follow "basic, even routine journalistic practice" in its story, "A Rape on Campus." The article told the story of "Jackie," a UVA student who claimed she was gang-raped during a Phi Kappa Psi party. Rolling Stone has since retracted the article and local police say there's no evidence any such attack took place. In a statement Monday, Phi Kappa Psi said its reputation was seriously damaged by the erroneous report. "Clearly our fraternity and its members have been defamed, but more importantly we fear this entire episode may prompt some victims to remain in the shadows, fearful to confront their attackers," said the chapter's president, Stephen Scipione. An analysis by a team … [Read more...] about Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at University of Virginia plans to sue Rolling Stone over debunked gang-rape story

Police in Charlottesville, Va., say they have uncovered no evidence of the sex assault at a University of Virginia frat house described in a November 2014 Rolling Stone article. The months-long investigation into the story told by “Jackie” about what she said was a September 2012 gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi house could not be proven in any way, said police Chief Timothy Longo. The case has been “suspended,” not closed, because something could have happened, Longo said. “We certainly can’t say something didn’t happen … but there’s not evidence to support it,” Longo told reporters at a Monday afternoon press conference. Jackie last spoke to police through her lawyer on Dec. 10, days after the bombshell piece, penned by Rolling Stone magazine writer Sabrina Erdely, came out. Jackie wanted nothing to do with an investigation, refused to give a statement and did not want to press criminal charges, Longo said. … [Read more...] about No evidence of University of Virginia frat rape described by ‘Jackie’ in Rolling Stone article: police